Ryan Gosling develops live-action Flintstones movie about grown-up Bamm-Bamm
Ryan Gosling and producing partner Jessie Henderson are developing a live-action Flintstones film centred on a grown-up Bamm-Bamm Rubble at Warner Bros., with the studio now searching for a writer, according to a report from Deadline published August 25, 2026.
TL;DR
- Gosling and Henderson, his Open Invite producing partner, are attached to the project, which was first reported by Deadline and confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter.
- The film would follow an adult version of Bamm-Bamm Rubble; no writer, director or cast is attached yet.
- It would be the first live-action Flintstones film since 2000’s The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas.
- The news arrives as Warner Bros. separately develops an animated Flintstones film and navigates the ongoing Paramount takeover fight.
What we know about the Bamm-Bamm project
Gosling and Henderson are in early development on the feature, which centres on a grown-up version of Bamm-Bamm, the adopted son of Barney and Betty Rubble. The character has previously been aged up in animation, including the 1971 series The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show, but a live-action film built around the adult version is new territory for the franchise.
Right now the only confirmed step is the search for a writer. There is no director, no cast and no word on whether Gosling intends to appear on-screen himself. It would mark the first live-action outing for the Hanna-Barbera family since 2000, when The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas underperformed at the box office without its original cast.
A UK box-office history with Bedrock
Warner Bros. does not currently distribute the earlier Flintstones films in the UK, but the franchise has a real track record there. The 1994 original, starring John Goodman and Rick Moranis, was a solid performer on British screens.
£30,979,560 UK box office gross — The Flintstones (1994) Source: SaltyPopcorn
That UK haul was part of a $341.6 million worldwide total, according to distribution figures cited by SaltyPopcorn, making the original a durable performer more than three decades on. It gives Warner Bros. a built-in audience to reintroduce for any new instalment.
Where this leaves the animated Flintstones movie
Gosling’s project will not replace Warner Bros.’ other Hanna-Barbera plans. The studio’s animation division is separately developing Meet the Flintstones, a theatrical toon from directors Todd Wilderman and Hamish Grieve, which showed early footage at Lightbox Expo in October 2024.
The two productions sit in different divisions and are not connected. It fits a wider pattern at Warner Bros., which is also behind Jim Carrey’s live-action George Jetson film, suggesting the studio is mining its Hanna-Barbera library from multiple angles at once. A related live-action cartoon revival at a rival studio, John Cena’s Johnny Bravo, points to the same trend taking hold across Hollywood.
The timing is notable. The Bamm-Bamm news broke the same week Warner Bros. parted ways with longtime animation chief Sam Register, all while the studio remains tied up in a takeover battle that has already drawn a formal UK regulatory probe into Paramount’s bid for the company.
Gosling’s growing list of franchise projects
The Bamm-Bamm film adds to an already packed slate for Gosling. He leads Star Wars: Starfighter, directed by Shawn Levy and dated for May 2027, and stars in Marvel’s Ghost Rider, currently set for July 2028.
He is also still attached to talks around a potential Barbie sequel with Margot Robbie and director Greta Gerwig, though those negotiations reportedly remain unresolved over budget. Adding a Hanna-Barbera property to that list underlines how far Gosling has moved into franchise territory since Barbie became Warner Bros.’ highest-grossing film in 2023.
No release date, writer or cast has been set for the Bamm-Bamm film. Screen & Story will update this story as development continues.
Reported from publicly available interviews and verified press sources. Last reviewed August 30, 2026.
Elena Vane is an award-winning comics historian and pop culture journalist. Specializing in the DC/Marvel universes and independent graphic novels, Elena has been documenting the rise of cosplay culture for over a decade . She is a frequent panelist at New York Comic Con and provides in-depth biographies of industry pioneers. Elena’s expertise ensures that every comic-related update is factually grounded and community-focused .
